Lint conveyer system



Jan. 7, 1941.

INVENTOR GEORGE C. 6/? N A TTORNE Y5 G. C. MORGAN LINT CONVEYER SYSTEMFiled Nov. 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GEORGE C. MORGAN ATTORNEYSJan. 7, 1941.

Patented Jan. 7, 1941 PATENT OFFICE LINT CONVEYER SYSTEM George C.Morgan, Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Continental Gin Company, acorporation of Delaware Application November 16, 1939, Serial No.304,681

4 Claims.

My invention relates to a manifold conveyor system adapted to take thelint, in bat form, from the several individual condensers of a batteryof gins, and break up or disrupt all lint masses so as to restore thelint to like free fiber form in which it reached the gin condensers,before commingling it and delivering it to the battery condenser.

Considering my invention as applied to the handling of lint from abattery of linter gins, but not thereby intending to limit my inventionto that particular use, I find that the lint, in free fiber form, isborne by an air current of substantial volume from each linter gin toits respective condenser and there the practice is to separate from thelint this air current along with a sub-' stantial amount of dirt, trashand foreign matter, and discharge such separated matter through amanifold system to a centrifugal separator where the dirt and othermatter, in suspension in the air currents derived from the several ginsof the battery, is separated therefrom and disposed of.

The individual gin condensers collect the lint in bat form and thecustomary practice heretofore has been, by either mechanical orpneumatic conveyers, to collect such lint in broken bat or mass form, bya manifold conveyer system and deliver it in such form to the batterycondenser, where in being restored to bat form it was again cleaned andseparated from the air current that bore it to the condenser.

It is obviously of prime importance that the bat lint should bepresented to the battery condenser in the most suitable form for theefiicient separation of air, dirt and trash therefrom and for itsconversion into a bat of uniform characteristics, free of agglomeratedmasses of lint which envelop within them a substantial amount of dirtand trash and which disturb the uniformity in characteristics sodesirable in the ultimate bat produced on the battery condenser.

My present invention is particularly directed to a method and means forhandling the individual w condenser bats so as to break them down into:lree fiber form and eliminate the presence of agglomerated masses offiber representing undisintegrated bat fragments before they reachthebattery condenser. I propose to accomplish this reduction of the lintbats from individual condensers back into free fiber form by thecontrolled action of air current thereon and to do this withoutrequiring an excess volume of air in the conveyer system beyond thatrequired to move the lint, as that would be objectionable in that itwould impose additional duties on the battery condenser and unnecessarycost on the air handling system.

The essential basis of my invention lies in subjecting the lint, dofiedor collected in bat form from an individual condenser drum, to theaction of an individual air current, admitted preferably with the lintbat but so controlled as to produce a forceful whirl in the lintcollecting lateral for such individual gin capable of breaking upthelint masses or lumps or the sections of the bat and of resolving theminto their component parts, namely, lint fibers, dirt and trash.

A furtherimportant object is to produce, with the minimum possiblevolume of air, a whirl having the capacity and disruptive force requiredto disintegrate the bat sections and to furnish a fluid medium orcarrier in which the lint and foreign matter can be suspended untildelivery into the trunk line which collects and commingles the lint fromthe several gins of the battery and delivers same to the batterycondenser.

The preferred means for accomplishing this end is the provision at eachbattery condenser of a lateral suctionpipe so disposed and arranged,with reference to a hopper or chute, that the lint and air entering suchchute will be delivered tangentially, and at the requisite highvelocity, into the suction duct so as to produce a vortex whirl therein,which in the manner described, will disrupt the bat sections and restorethe lint to free fiber form. A suitable hopper and lateral suction pipeis shown in a copending application, Serial No. 239,182, but there,however, no provision is made for any disrupting and centrifugalseparating efiect on the lint, dirt and foreign matter entering thesuction lateral.

My invention is illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the drawings,in which: i

Fig. 1 shows in plan view a portion of a battery of linter gins having aconveyer system for the lint embodying my present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of an individual gin condenser, brokenaway to show in vertical transverse cross section the lateral suctionpipe and the hopper arranged for the tangential delivcry of a restrictedair current bearing the lint bat fragments into such pipe, with thearrows showing the disrupting and separating air whirl produced in thesuction pipe.

Fig.3 is a front element of the condenser looking to the left of Fig. 2,and showing the lint passing in bat form into the suction hopper.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

As illustrated, each of the linter gins 5 of a battery has itsindividual condenser 6 by which its lint is collected in the form of acontinuous bat 7 (Fig. 3) While the air and dirt that is separatedtherefrom is conducted by a lateral suction pipe 8 to the trunk line 9of a suction conveyer system and delivered to the blower fan I!) whichforces same into a centrifugal separator ll, all this being inaccordance with common existing practice.

The lint that is collected by the individual gin condensers is handledby a separate pneumatic conveyer system, comprising the trunk line 12and lateral connections I3 which lead therefrom to each individual ginand there are connected each to a suction pipe 14 (Figs. 2 and 3) whichcollects the lint from its respective individual condenser 6 and thecommingled lint from the several condensers is delivered, by the actionof the blower fan l5, through a pipe 16 to the battery separator H,where it is taken off in bat form l8 and the air, along with anyentrained dirt, trash and foreign matter separated from the lint, isdelivered by the duct IQ for final treatment in the centrifugalseparator l I.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, the individualcondenser may be of any ordinary construction, that shown being of therotary drum type comprising a rotating gear driven screen element 26,which receives the air and lint from its respective gin through theconnection 2| and on which the lint is collected and pressed by the roll22 into the form of a hat I. The condenser is shown as having heads 23,in which the dust outlet pipe 8 is mounted, and as being mounted upon asuitable base or support 24.

It is my object to collect the bat 1, after it has been formed on thedrum 20, in any convenient way which will enable it, and the necessaryair to convey it, to enter tangentially into the suction pipe l4,whatever its shape or wherever it may be placed. The simplestarrangement for collecting the bat is to provide a chute or hopper 25and place it under, and on the downgoing side of, the drum 20 opposite aportion thereof that is open and free of any suction action within thedrum that would tend to hold the bat on the drum. When the hopper is sodisposed the bat is freeto be doffed thereinto both by the action ofgravity thereon and by the inrush of the air current utilized as themedium for conveying this lint into the pneumatic manifold system. Thehopper 25, as shown, is of a flaring type closed at its ends and havingits upper wall edges juxtaposed to the drum surface so that the bat, asit falls away from the drum, will drop into and slide down this chute,being accompanied by an air current flowing principally between the drumand the outer hopper wall which serves as a chute. This hopper issharply contracted and has a restricted port of uniform cross sectionextending along suction pipe M for the full length of the condenser withthe hopper chute wall arranged so as to force this air current to enterat high velocity and flow uniforrnly and tangentially into the suctionpipe 14 throughout the length of the hopper.

In Fig. 2 the bat is shown as if it were passing in a continuous sheetdownwardly from the drum through hopper 25 into the suction pipe 14, butas a matter of fact the bat in this passage will be broken up intofragments or lint masses which are carried by the rapidly acceleratingair current and they are broken up or disrupted, in part even before,and fully when, they enter the suction pipe l4, where the whirlingaction of the air at high velocity not only chsrupts all of the lintmasses, bat fragments and lumps of lint, but reduces same to the form offree lint fibers. It also accomplishes another object, namely, ofcentrifugally separating the heavier foreign matter from the lint whichtends to flow off along the vortex or axis of the whirl while the dirtor foreign matter proceeds more slowly in the outer belt of the whirlwith a spiral direction of travel and enters the pipe l2 substantiallyseparated from the lint.

My object, therefore, is summarized in the statement that I restore thelint by the action of the air in pipe I4, to the same free state as thatin which it entered the individual condenser through the connection 2|,and in this form, free of lumps and agglomerated masses which will holdwithin themselves dirt, foreign matter, etc., the lint passes throughthe manifold system into the fan l5 wherein it is further agitated andbeaten and blown to the battery condenser ll whence it passes in batform IE to the trampers for baling. The dirt, trash and air separatedfrom the bat lint IS in the separator I! are delivered by pipe l9 to theseparator l l for further separation and disposal.

Attention is called to the fact that the energy created by the air whirlin the suction pipe I4 is suflicient to overcome any tendency of thesuction to work with unbalanced effect lengthwise of the pipe M. Thisenables the port, that admits air tangentially into the pipe Hi to bekept of uniform size whereby the volumetric flow of air also can be keptuniform lengthwise of the suction pipe Is and restricted to the minimumamount required to disrupt the lint bat and bear it into the main l 2.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a pneumatic system for the collection of lint from a battery ofgins having individual condensers, a main leading to a batterycondenser, suction means to induce the flow of a current of air throughsaid main, suction laterals leading from said main to the individualcondensers for the several gins, and means to deliver the lint in batform from said gin condensers along with an air current tangentiallyinto the respective lateral suction pipe of each gin in a manner toproduce an air whirl therein having sufficient inertia to disrupt thelint bat and restore it substantially to free fiber form.

2. The combination, with a condenser for an individual gin having meansto form the lint collected thereon into bat form, of means comprising asuction pipe, means for drawing an air current thereinto tangentially ata velocity to produce a forceful Whirl, and means to introduce the lintin bat form into said air whirl which is adapted to reduce it by itsdisruptive action from mass form to substantially free, separated fiberform.

3. The combination of elements according to claim 2, in which the meansfor delivering the air current tangentially into the suction pipe, is ahopper disposed to receive the lint bat from said condenser.

4. The combination of elements according to claim 2, in which thesuction pipe extends lengthwise of the condenser and has an air and lintintake port uniform in cross section, and restricted in widthsufficiently to enforce an equalized air inflow thereinto lengthwise ofsaid pipe.

' GEORGE C. MORGAN.

